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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25998055">Here in the Flowers</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zelinkie/pseuds/Zelinkie'>Zelinkie</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Legend of Zelda &amp; Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Flowers, Hyrule - Freeform, Oneshot</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 03:14:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>916</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25998055</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zelinkie/pseuds/Zelinkie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Zelda thinks about what has been and what is to be.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Link &amp; Zelda (Legend of Zelda), Link/Zelda (Legend of Zelda)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Here in the Flowers</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The fields were greener than she remembered, the sky bluer. The weather calmer, the breeze cooler. The flowers more flexible, bending to the wind's every order. And his smile... it was so much more radiant, his eyes alive like she'd never seen them before. He was less careful and more confident in himself, and he spoke his mind and did what he wanted.</p><p>Her world was calmer than she remembered.</p><p>Sitting in the field of flowers alongside him, watching the world go by, she smiled. She hadn't smiled in a long while. Watching him pick the flowers and talk about his adventures was so therapeutic. It eased her aching body and mind, allowing her to relax. In truth, being with him in that moment was the first time she ever truly relaxed. The world was quiet, and the only sound she had to pay attention to was his voice, soothing and soft, with a touch of coarseness. Though, she was only half listening. She'd nod and smile in fake acknowledgment, her content smile wavering as she listened to another voice inside her head—her own.</p><p>She didn't know where to go. She had no clue how to continue in her life; her purpose had been fulfilled. She and Link destroyed Ganon and saved the world. Yes, she, Princess Zelda. It was nothing but a title and she was okay with that. She'd come to terms with her grudges and regrets long ago. She knew, and made it well known, that she could never conform to her royal inheritance. She was too careless, adventurous, and free. The golden shackles of a throne could never hold her down. Rather than assuming the role of queen, she'd wished to live a life of peace in the forest... with him. Alas, she knew better, and instead settled on visiting the various towns to announce her return to life. </p><p>She liked to think that she has lived two lives. One before and one after the calamity. In her first, her mother died and she was left to undergo grueling religious training as per the request of her father. She spent many hours in cold springs, praying to the deities who refused to answer her, and she suffered for it. In that life, she loved technology and wanted to learn more about it, but soon enough all her hours were devoted specifically to praying to awaken her power—the power that would save the world. It awakened a moment too late, and that was the end of her first life.</p><p>In her second life, she was born anew from the grasps of malice and evil, appearing as godly as ever as she destroyed the one threatening her world. In her second life, she was alive. Living, breathing, and right next to him; he who she dreamt of in her slumber between lives. She dared not connect the two, for it was a past too different from her present to bring her any sort of feeling at all.</p><p>The one thing she carried over from her first life was that she loved flowers. She knew all their meanings and could identify them all, categorizing them by color or shape or size. You could write a story with just flowers and make the most beautiful arrangements, and they sung to her. It was as though she could hear them, every secret they had to tell, every story they had to share. They brought her so much joy and she truly thought them to be her only passion left in the world. A world without flowers was a world without meaning, and it was a world she did not want to live in. </p><p>She reached down and gently brushed her fingers against the petal of a silent princess—her favorite flower. She resonated with it. It's meaning was so true and pure that she truly felt that she was the flower and that the flower was her, encompassing everything she has ever fought for and felt. The silent princess cannot be contained; it can only survive in the wild. And now here she was, sitting in a field of once endangered flowers, tears threatening to fall because she was so overwhelmed by the beauty of it all.</p><p>Still, she worried for what was to come. Where was she supposed to go now that she had no reason to live anymore? Sure, she'd managed to wrangle a few villages into agreeing with her rule, especially after presenting Link, but... she saw no point. It was evident that even without her, they could thrive. They didn't need a collective leader— no, they didn't need anything. The people were happy. In truth, she didn't want or need anything either. She had everything she dreamed of: him, her flowers, and peace. Yet she thought that all this time she'd be left craving more, <i>needing</i> more, but she wasn't. She felt no desire for anything.</p><p>And maybe that was okay. She just knew that the future was uncertain—would she restore the monarchy? Continue to carry out her royal duties? Or would she live peacefully, side by side with him, in a small cottage in the deep woods? She didn't know. But it was okay.</p><p>She looked up at him as he spoke about another one of his journeys in Hyrule, and she smiled. Looking at him reassured her that it would always be okay, because here, in the flowers, she had their whispers and his stories to guide her.</p>
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